Louis C.k.

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Louis C.K. voices the character of Max the dog in Illumination Entertainment's new movie The Secret Life Of Pets. Louis C.K. is seen here on the red carpet at the New York Premiere - New York, United States - Saturday 25th June 2016

From the team behind Despicable Me and Minions, this high-energy adventure makes up for its rather simplistic story by filling the screen with lively characters, silly dialog and colourful animation. There's nothing terribly distinctive about the movie, as most of the gags feel recycled and everything bounces across the surface without generating any resonance either in the humour or emotions. But it's a lot of fun while it lasts.

In a cosy Manhattan apartment, the happy rescue dog Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) lives with his owner Katie (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's Ellie Kemper). The moment she steps out of the door on the way to work, he's already bored and waiting for her to come home. So he hangs out with the other pets in the neighbourhood, including lovelorn pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate) and food-obsessed cat Chloe (Lake Bell). Then Katie brings home another stray, the gigantic brown furball Duke (Eric Stonestreet), who immediately starts challenging Max's alpha-dog status. As war breaks out between them, they find themselves stranded in the city, caught up with a sewer-dwelling gang of abandoned pets led by the adorable but intense bunny Snowball (Kevin Hart). Meanwhile, Gidget and Chloe recruit some help to find them, including a grumpy hawk (Albert Brooks) and an ageing basset hound (Dana Carvey).

The plot basically consists of a series of chaotic chase sequences that build up to a climactic scene straight out of a Die Hard movie. Each character and plot element is over-constructed, which eliminates any sense of honest emotion or loose interaction, but the characters are likeable simply because they're so ridiculous. The animators use a lot of colour and a tactile variety of furry textures. And the actors have a lot of fun with the characters. Hart is, of course, the scene-stealer as the fast-talking kingpin who uses his cuteness as a weapon. And while C.K. and Stonestreet are endearing as the story's protagonists, it's Slate and Bell who win over the audience in the funniest, most complex roles.

An entertaining film about sobering true events, this is the story of notorious screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who defied McCarthy's communist witch-hunt hearings in the late-1940s and was blacklisted by Hollywood for more than a decade. As written by John McNamara and directed by Jay Roach, the film is bright, funny and emotionally resonant, clearly simplified to make it more involving. And with such a terrific cast on board, it's both revealing and a lot of fun.

In 1947, Dalton (Bryan Cranston) is the film industry's top-paid screenwriter, so of course Senator McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Commission goes after him about his rumoured links to the communist party during the war. But he and nine fellow writers refuse to testify, so they're imprisoned for contempt, denied work by the Hollywood studios and targeted personally by the powerful gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren). To survive, Dalton begins writing under a series of pseudonyms for the B-movie producer Frank King (John Goodman), creating a script factory in his home with the help of his wife Cleo (Diane Lane) and daughter Niki (Elle Fanning). Two of these screenplays win Oscars, and it isn't until Dalton begins writing Spartacus in 1960 that actor Kirk Douglas (Dean O'Gorman) breaks the studio blacklist.

Roach directs this story in a sunny, snappy way that includes lots of smart wordplay and a clear sense of the us-or-them mentality that has defined America since the Cold War. People need a villain to hiss at, so anyone with even a passing connection to communism will do. And Mirren hisses better than most. Her performance is riotously funny and relentlessly nasty at the same time. More textured characters include Louis C.K. as a fellow writer and Michael Stuhlbarg as conflicted actor Edward G. Robinson. All of the actors are excellent, anchored by Cranston's wonderfully prickly Oscar-nominated turn as a bullheaded man who hilariously seizes every opportunity to make an inspiring speech.

'Dalton Trumbo had gone from novelist to a successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter which saw him become one of the town's highest paid writers and even earn an Academy Award nomination. But his bright career came to a crushing end in 1947 after he was one of nine people who refused to testify in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. This led to Trumbo being blacklisted from Hollywood and effectively ending his movie career. But despite being blacklisted Trumbo refused to give up and instead continued to write, often under pseudonyms, working on films such as Oscar winner Roman Holiday. His fight against the U.S. government and studio bosses over his freedom to write and work entangled everyone in Hollywood from gossip writer Hedda Hopper to Kirk Douglas who would call on Trumbo to pen the scrip for his epic drama 'Spartacus' and help bring about the end of the Hollywood blacklist.

Louis C.K.’s ‘Louie’ is on ‘extended hiatus’ whilst the comedian works on other projects, including a new show ‘Better Things’.

There’s some good and some bad news for fans of Louis C.K.’s Louie. Louie is going on an extended hiatus whilst its star, comedian Louis C.K., focusses on other projects. Fans of the FX show shouldn’t despair – not yet anyway – as one of the projects C.K. will be working on is a series which bears some similarities to Louie.

Louis C.K. at the 40th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live in February 2015.

Jon Stewart's 16 year stint as host of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' is coming to an end on August 6th.

As he enters the final week of his 16 year long tenure as host of ‘The Daily Show’, Jon Stewart has revealed the three guests he’ll be inviting onto the show before the final episode next Thursday, details of which remain shrouded in secrecy.

CNN Money reports that Louis C.K., Denis Leary and Amy Schumer – all friends of the departing host – will be appearing on Monday through Wednesday next week before the very last Stewart-fronted edition on August 6th. Schumer, of course, was recently revealed as one of the names Stewart was interested this year to replace him on the Comedy Central chat show, though she turned it down. Current cast member Trevor Noah has already been named as Stewart's successor.

Jon Stewart is gearing up for his final week as host of 'The Daily Show'

With all the adorable animation of ‘Minions’ and the premise of ‘Toy Story’, ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ promises to be the most beloved animation of 2016. Check out the teaser trailer!

We’ve all wondered what our pets get up to when we leave the house and The Secret Life of Pets promises to explore our best (and worst) imaginings of our pets’ unseen antics. From the cat with extreme snacking habits to the massage obsessed sausage dog, there are definitely plenty of traits these adorable animated pets have in common with our own. Check out the trailer and see if your pet is as badly behaved as Chloe the over-eating cat, Max the overly enthusiastic dog or the budgie who yearns to be a pilot!

Bobby Moynihan provides the voice of Mel the dog in The Secret Life of Pets.

Ever wondered what your pets get up to when you're not around? Well, put it this way; your furniture, kitchen appliances, soft furnishings and even tomorrow's dinner are not safe. Some pets are ever faithful, however, such as the terrier Max who is showered with attention from his loving owner. But things get complicated when he is introduced to his owner's new pet; a mongrel named Duke, who he is determined not to let become the favourite. While they might not initially get on, their rivalry is the least of their worries when they discover that a resentful neighbourhood rabbit named Snowball is organising a plot of vengeance against all the well-loved pets in town, as well as their owners, on behalf of those less fortunate who have been abandoned on the street.

Louis CK polarized the Saturday Night Live audience over the weekend with a series of jokes about child molestation. He compared abuse to his love of Mounds Bars, saying, "They do taste delicious, but they don't taste as good as a young boy does, and shouldn't, to a child molester."

Louis CK raised eyebrows with child molestation jokes

"Child molesters are very tenacious people," he joked, adding, "It's so crazy because when you consider the risk in being a child molester - speaking not of even the damage you're doing, but the risk - there's no worse life available to a human than being a caught child molester.

Louis CK has made a lot of people angry with his SNL monologue – what else is new. The comedian, who thrives on controversy more than anything, So his monologue on last night’s SNL – and the scandal it caused – shouldn’t come as any sort of surprise.

The New York premiere for upcoming comedy 'Top Five' took place at the Ziegfeld Theater and saw a variety of guests among the usual cast and crew members - which included director and star Chris Rock and co-producer Kanye West.